HEY
OLDSMOBILE, SAY CHEESE: Bring your Brownie to the Saratoga
Auto Museum, in the Saratoga Spa State Park, this Saturday
(Feb. 19). From 2-3 PM, Albany photographer Bob Neudal
(pictured) will host the presentation How To Photograph Your
Car. (Yes, it’s trickier than one would think.) After the
seminar, you can wander around the museum and try out your
new skills on their excellent collection of vintage and classic
cars; the museum helpfully suggests the Automobiles of
Carroll Shelby exhibit, currently on view in the main
gallery. Admission to the event is free to members, but $5
(plus museum admission) to everyone else. For more information,
call the museum at 587-1935.

FOR THE KITTIES: It’s benefit time at Valentine’s (17
New Scotland Ave., Albany) this Tuesday evening (Feb. 22).
This P.R.O.P.A.G.A.N.D.A. event, hosted by poet R.M.
Engelhardt, will raise money for the Whiskers Animal
Benevolent League. You know, the good folks who take such
fine care of all kinds of cats and kittens. The evening will
begin at 7 PM with an art showing, followed by the performances
at 8 PM. The scheduled performers include artist-photographer
(and Metroland contributing photographer) Alicia
Solsman, poet the Poet Essence, musician Kelly
Maguire and Engelhardt. And . . . there will also be an
open mic for “musicians and poets.” Admission is a measly
$4, but don’t be afraid to kick in a larger donation for such
an excellent cause.

WRITTEN FOR THE SCREEN: Believe it or not, all aspiring screenwriters
do not live in Southern California. (Although, almost everyone
in Southern California is an aspiring screenwriter. Ponder
that one for a minute.) Do you want to learn the nuts and
bolts of story structure, and the basics of the screenplay
form? Well, the Spencertown Academy is offering a screenwriting
workshop with Courtney Hunt. Hunt, who has an MFA in
film from Columbia, wrote and directed Althea Faught,
which was shown on PBS’ American Playhouse,
and has written three other screenplays. She will take would-be
screenwriters through the basics, including an introduction
to the “elements of dramatic writing from Aristotle
to Syd Field.” (If you don’t know who Field is, you’re
new to the whole how-to-write-a-screenplay thing.) The class
will be held on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 PM from Feb. 23 through
March 30, and it costs $180 ($160 for Academy members). For
more information, call 392-3693 or visit www.spencertown.org.

GONE, GONE, GONE: As of last week, Timothy Cahill is
no longer an arts critic employed by the Times Union.
Everyone is in complete agreement about that. “He doesn’t
work for us anymore,” explained TU executive arts editor
Steve Barnes. Cahill himself confirmed this with sources
here at Metroland. Nobody, however, is talking about
why Cahill is no longer working at the TU’s
imposing fortress on Albany Shaker Road—at least on the record,
anyway. Off the record, it’s a pretty interesting situation.
(Well, as interesting as insidery-journalist gossip goes.)
This story, dear reader, must unfortunately wait for another
day.

—Shawn
Stone

THAT’LL SHOW FIDEL: The performance by Dance Cuba,
originally scheduled for tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 18) at the
Egg, was canceled because the all-woman company was not issued
travel visas by the U.S. State Department. I saw this
vigorous company last year at the New Victory Theater on 42nd
Street in New York City. (Ella Baff, director of Jacob’s Pillow,
was in the audience, too.) What happened to our government’s
relations with Cuba between that day and this? Why do we permit
the silencing of artists and the consequent diminishing of
our own spirits? When did dance shoes become political? Ticket
refunds are available at the point of purchase. For more information,
call the Egg box office at 473-1845.